Summary At about 1713 on the evening of 08March2006, the fishing vessel B.C. Safariwas making way in the Strait of Georgia between Deep Bay and French Creek, British Columbia, when it capsized and sank. The master, who was the lone operator, is missing and presumed drowned. Ce rapport est galement disponible en franais. Other Factual Information Particulars of the Vessel Vessel Description The B.C. Safari was a small, wooden fishing vessel of closed construction. Below the main deck were crew quarters in the forward section of the vessel followed by the engine room with built-in fuel tanks port and starboard. Located just aft of the engine room were two insulated fish holds, number 1 (port), and number2 (starboard), followed by the number3 hold which ran athwartships. This was followed by a void space and a lazarette where the steering gear and two fresh water tanks were located. Drainage piping led forward from the lazarette under the fish holds to the engine room bilges. On the main deck forward was a superstructure with an enclosed wheelhouse and steering station. One set of stairs led from the rear of the wheelhouse up to the boat deck and another led down to a starboard side companionway on the main deck. From here, a fixed ladder provided access to the engine room below, and a hinged door provided access to the starboard exterior deck. Abaft the superstructure was the main working deck with three raised hatch coamings and a net drum on the centreline. An aluminum tilt ramp extending approximately 2m beyond the stern was attached to the fir timbers. The B.C. Safariwas originally built for salmon seining, but at the time of the accident it was being used as a fish packer to transport herring from the fishing grounds to another vessel that would then be used to transport the fish product to a processing plant on shore. History of the Voyage From March2005 until February2006, the B.C. Safari was laid up at a shipyard on the FraserRiver in Richmond, British Columbia. During that time, the propeller shaft packing gland was loosened and re-tightened during a scheduled Transport Canada (TC) safety inspection of the vessel's propeller shaft. Also during those 11 months, some waterline hull planks were renewed and some plank seams below the waterline were resealed. The vessel left the shipyard on February26 and, within hours, excessive water was discovered entering the hull through the tail shaft packing gland, which was located beneath the number3 fish hold and only accessible from there. The gland was again re-tightened just before 14tons of ice was loaded into the three holds, 2.5tons of which went into hold number3, with the remainder distributed equally between hold numbers1 and2. At this time, the vessel had approximately 0.75m of freeboard. 2 The following day, February27, the vessel proceeded to the fishing grounds. No steps were taken to verify its operational readiness following the repairs and adjustments that were made during the previous 11months. The vessel, with a crew of three, including the master, left the Fraser River to cross the StraitofGeorgia but returned within hours after encountering gale-force southeast winds and steep waves. During this short voyage, the lazarette's high-water bilge alarm sounded and the engine room bilges were found to be nearly full of seawater. On February28, the vessel crossed the Strait of Georgia without incident, arriving at FrenchCreek, B.C., at about 1700. 3 During the crossing, the lazarette's high-water bilge alarm sounded several times and water was pumped overboard from the engine room bilges where it had accumulated after flowing forward from the lazarette and/or the packing gland under the number3 fish hold. At some time during the voyage, the float switch for the lazarette's high-water bilge alarm was raised so that it would activate less frequently. The engine room bilges needed to be pumped out at regular four or five hour intervals from the time the vessel left the FraserRiver on February27 until the day of the capsizing, March 8. Otherwise, bilge water would rise above the engine room deck plating. On March4, the vessel moved 16 miles west of French Creek to Deep Bay, where a fourth crew member joined the vessel. On March5, the anticipated gillnet herring fishery began. The fishing operation involved the use of an aluminum punt as a platform from which to launch herring nets. When fish were hauled aboard the punt, they were transferred to the B.C. Safari and stowed in the holds. Fishing continued in this manner for three days until March8 when the master became concerned that the quality of the fish on board might suffer due to their age and the fact that the fish hold ice used to preserve the fish had mostly melted. He decided to take advantage of improving weather conditions between storms to transport the vessel's 22tons of herring to a fish packer anchored near French Creek. He told the three crew members to continue fishing from the punt while he operated the vessel by himself during an anticipated three-hour voyage to deliver the herring. The three holds were hastily pressed up with seawater, 4 and the hatch covers were fitted but not secured. In this condition, the main deck was awash with seawater shipped through the freeing ports and when moving ahead the depth of water on the deck increased. The vessel departed Deep Bay at about 1455. The engine room bilges had been pumped out approximately two hours previously. The boom was left raised at an angle of approximately 45 and slewed slightly to port. At approximately 1700, the master made a cellular telephone call to the vessel's owner ashore asking how to operate the engine room's hydraulic bilge pumping system. At 1713, the master made a distress call on very high frequency (VHF) channel 16 during which he reported his vessel's position relative to French Creek. He told a Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) officer in Comox, B.C. that the vessel was rapidly taking on water and that he planned to abandon ship immediately. Attempts by MCTS to communicate further with the B.C.Safari were unsuccessful. In the last minutes of being upright, the B.C. Safari altered course abruptly to port then turned to starboard until the vessel was on a westerly heading to windward. Moments later it capsized to port and quickly sank. Vessel Certification The B.C. Safari was subject to a regular four-year inspection by TC Marine Safety. The vessel had completed an inspection in December2005 and had been issued a safety inspection certificate (SIC29) allowing it to conduct commercial fishing-related operations on the Pacific coast up to 20miles off shore and as far south as Portland, Oregon. The SIC was valid until 18December2009. Personnel Certification and Experience The master had been issued a Fishing MasterIV certificate by TC in December2000 that was valid until December 2005.He had over 25years of experience as a fisherman and boat handler, and had been the master on the B.C. Safari for 10annual herring seasons. The engineer had five years of experience on various fishing vessels and had been the engineer on the B.C. Safari during the 2005 herring season. He did not hold any TC certification, nor was this required. Each of the two deckhands had over 20years of fishing experience. Neither held TC certification, nor was this required. The master and one deckhand had received MED (marine emergency duties) training. The engineer and other deckhand had not, nor were they required to do so. Vessel Loading Characteristics The B.C. Safari had 22tons of herring on board at the time of the occurrence, 10tons in each of hold numbers1 and2, and the remaining 2tons in hold number3. Some ice also remained in each hold, all three of which were topped up with seawater immediately before the vessel departed for French Creek on March8. Bilge Pumping System An electric and a hydraulic bilge pump were located in the engine room, along with an additional electric pump in the propeller shaft log. An electric bilge pump was installed in the lazarette, but was not in operational condition either before or after the extended layup. Portand starboard drain pipes were fitted in the lazarette that allowed seawater to drain forward beneath the three fish holds to the engine room bilge where it could be pumped overboard. Vessel's Stern Construction The vessel's stern was composed of horizontal rows of individual fir timbers that, when fitted atop each other, formed what is known as a timbered stern. Seams that have remained above the waterline for an extended period of time and are then submerged due to a lowering of a vessel's freeboard are wide enough to allow water to pass through them and into the hull's interior. Over a period of hours or days of being submerged, the timbers swell so that sealing compounds (which are inserted in the seams at an earlier date) come together to form a watertight seal. The shrinking and swelling characteristic of timbered sterns is common knowledge among owners and operators of wooden vessels. Extra pumping is usually required and pumps are made ready to discharge the expected increase flowing through the seams. Shipyard Repairs and Inspection during Layup The vessel was used as a fish packer for one month in 2005. During the remainder of that year, shipyard workers replaced several starboard-quarter hull planks at the waterline and re-caulked seams of planks below the waterline and around the stern post. The tail shaft, rudder, and sea connections were removed and later replaced as part of a scheduled TC inspection procedure. Weather Environment Canada reports indicate that at 1605 on March8 the wind speed in the StraitofGeorgia was 2knots from the south. By 1700-about the time the master called the owner for instructions on how to operate the engine room's hydraulic bilge pumping system-winds had increased to 21knots from the west. Wave heights were 1-2m. Search and Rescue Efforts Approximately one minute after the master's distress call, MCTS Comox informed Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria, which tasked the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) auxiliary vessel French Creek1 to proceed to the B.C. Safari's last known position and search for survivors. Also tasked were two fishing vessels, one of which was the first to arrive on scene at 1727, 14minutes after the distress call was made. A search and rescue Cormorant helicopter stationed in Comox joined the search as did the CCG cutter Cape Cockburn and the CCG hovercraft Siyay. The search continued until approximately 0120 on the morning of March9. Neither the master nor the vessel was found. On 11April2006, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans deployed a remotely-operated vehicle that was able to locate the sunken vessel but not the master. The vessel remains sunk near its last reported position.